COHSTREX: The Coherent Structures in Rivers and Estuaries Experiments
Abstract
Coherent structures in rivers are generated by the interaction of the flow with bathymetric and shoreline features. These coherent structures produce surface signatures that can be detected and quantified using remote sensing instruments such as infrared (IR) cameras and microwave radars. Furthermore, the existing evidence suggests a number of relationships between coherent structures and flow characteristics that have the potential to allow flow parameters to be inferred from remote measurements. The Coherent Structures in Rivers and Estuaries Experiment, or COHSTREX was a five-year (2005-2010), multi-institutional collaboration to determine the extent to which the remotely-sensed signatures of coherent structures can be used to initialize and constrain predictive models for river and estuarine flows. Here we present an overview of the project, which is a unique combination of closely coupled field and numerical model experiments to predict, interpret, characterize, and understand coherent structures. The research involves four main areas - (1) in situ measurements, (2) remote sensing, (3) modeling, and (4) physics and classification of coherent structures. The project included two major field experiments with both in situ and remote sensing measurements on the Snohomish River near Everett, WA. The in situ field measurements were used to characterize the overall flow field to investigate the generation of coherent structures at specific sites, and initially, to provide boundary inputs for the numerical models. The surface signatures of coherent structures in the same region were detected using remote sensing techniques and compared with the in situ and model results.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFMOS53C1394J
- Keywords:
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- 4568 OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL / Turbulence;
- diffusion;
- and mixing processes